


sanha vs soulmate

by sarangway



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Humor, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Teen for language, i know yall know what im talking about, its one of those soulmate aus where the soulmate writes on their arm and it shows up on urs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-14 03:03:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9157255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarangway/pseuds/sarangway
Summary: yoon sanha has a soulmate, but park minhyuk is a total jerk. rocky, on the other hand, was really handsome and cool, and it would be nice ifhewas his soulmate.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hello 2017!!!!!  
> i give u socky for ur new years present...i realized that there was a huge lack of socky on ao3 and i just had to fill it in. this is probably gonna be kinda long? i hope? i want it to be?????  
> also, yes, minhyuk is indeed rocky and rocky is just his nickname on the dance team!! too bad sanha doesn't know this :0  
> hit me up at @starrybinu !!

No, he really didn’t want to talk about it. Despite Dongmin's incessant asking, Sanha would prefer not to talk about it – ever.

Because, quite simply, he didn’t have an answer. He didn’t know why there was a stupid girly butterfly on his arm, because he would have remembered putting such a dumb thing on himself. If this was some kind of practical joke, it sure wasn’t funny, and walking through school in his spring uniform that left his forearm bare wasn’t funny either.

The rest of the school day was a hazy blur of hiding his arm from everyone (including that annoyingly sweet couple Dongmin hung around with, Myungjun and Jinwoo), and desperately searching for the answer. Luckily for him, his mother knew exactly why, and he could tell by how she giggled, examining his arm like it was the best joke of the day. There were a lot of jokes, weren’t there?

After nagging for her to stop and ten grueling minutes of being extremely embarrassed, she said that this was totally normal, especially for a high school first year, and in fact it happened when he was younger. She explained that someone (God knows who) had put it on _their_ forearm, so now it was transcribed to Sanha's. It was one of those soulmate-types, but Sanha would like his soulmate to go away and stop doing stupid things. Maybe, if they were a girl, it was a little more acceptable. But either way, she should be considerate. Hence why he found himself writing a lengthy letter as to why his soulmate needed to stay ten feet away from their skin when it came to any weird temporary tattoos.

Considering that it was already eleven in the evening, he didn’t expect a quick reply to that, the words simply being an annoying ‘ㅋㅋㅋ’, as if that meant anything but sarcasm. He wrote back that he was serious and he would have no problem pretending he was sick and spending the day writing cuss words all over his hands. The reply was hasty now, saying that wouldn’t be necessary and that they apologized, but had to admit that Sanha was a bit rude for a soulmate. That was very uncalled for but he did see that the butterfly was fading, showing that the other person seemed to be washing it off. Sanha did the same as he brushed his teeth, deciding that his soulmate better stay in line or he’d do something about it.

***

Then again, what could a high school first year do when he was sat in his English class, taking a test, and words suddenly appeared on his arm? They weren’t in English, and seemed to be gibberish, but looked too much like cheating to not make Sanha uncomfortable and worried. Whoever this person was, they were very inconsiderate, and he made sure they knew that with a quick “ _you’re an absolute idiot, stop drawing on yourself”._ The drawing stopped for a few minutes and his attention turned back to his test.

“ _That’s rude, say sorry!”_

Sanha just blinked, absolutely shocked at the audacity of this jerk. “ _I’m the rude one? I'm in the middle of a test you little sh”_

“Sanha? Are you really so dumb to expect me not to notice the writing on your arm?” The class let out low giggles at the teacher's question, heads peeking up from exam papers to focus on him. Sanha's cheeks felt a sprinkling of red light them up, and he bowed his head. His test was then taken and thrown away, and he was told that he would get a zero for cheating. Class was dismissed shortly after and he was lucky it was his last for the day.

His mother was understanding towards the test score, without an exception for the scolding, but did admit that his suitor was rather bold. She told him that his dad merely wrote down important dates and such, never talking to her directly. She did begin a rant on how her _friend's_ husband was an artist and used to paint flowers – but that was gross and he was glad his soulmate wasn’t that bad.

“ _Wash your arm off._ ” Sanha’s blood boiled at the demand, as _if_ they had the right to tell him what to do. Sanha was spiteful and left it on for a little bit, until he started to notice crude drawings on his hands and quickly excused himself.

The rest of the night was spent ignoring homework and asking what he could do to speed up meeting his soulmate, because he would like to punch them square in the face – girl or not. Some people said that they wrote their address on their arm and were lucky enough to live close enough, others said they were too far and it took them years. Sanha would easily dip into his college savings to get a chance to fight this dimwit, however, but decided it made more sense to at least have a name. “ _I'm Sanha. What's your name?_ ”

“ _Why? Are you gonna try to find me and punch me?_ ” Did soulmates come with mind-reading powers? He'd have to ask mom.

“ _I don’t know anything about you, I at least want a name._ ”

“ _Minhyuk._ ” That was a surprisingly cute name, and with a swift Google search turned out to be male. So his soulmate was a boy named Minhyuk, that was a good start. “ _I’m not telling you anything else, so don't ask._ ”

“ _Wait, are you in Korea too?_ ”

“ _I’m writing in hangul, aren’t I?_ ”

“ _Oh._ ” That was a dumb question and Sanha very quickly regretted it. “ _Well I’m going to bed now. I’ll wash this off. Goodnight, Minhyuk._ ”

                “ _Goodnight, Sanha._ ” Minhyuk drew a stupid little emoji next to it, but it did make Sanha smile to himself.

***

                He takes it back, there was no way in hell that Minhyuk would ever make him smile. Because Minhyuk was a total idiot who drew dumb little hearts and his name all over Sanha’s hands. Dongmin’s questions had increased by a million now, grabbing his hands and turning them, examining the mess and asking why Sanha didn’t tell his own best friend who this soulmate was. “It’s because I don’t know him.”

                “Him?” Dongmin’s hands dropped from Sanha’s, his eyebrows furrowing as if he was expecting something else.

                “Ugh, you’re acting like a mom.” Sanha frowned at his hand again, gripping them until they were white. “His name is Minhyuk and he’s a total idiot.”

                Dongmin smiled at the name, touching Sanha’s hands again to trace the little hearts. “Did you get a last name? or where he lived?”

                “Yeah. He’s in Korea too, obviously. But I don’t know his last name.”

                “Yah! Are you dumb? Ask him for his last name!” Dongmin hit Sanha’s arm, a scowling expression making Sanha roll his eyes. “Maybe he goes to our school? I can look through the students and try to find him.”

                Dongmin’s class president perks were a blessing to Sanha most of the time, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to find the boy at his school. What if he was a student here? What would Sanha even do? He could make all the threats he wanted, but really, he was a pretty fragile kid and wasn’t interested in fighting anyone. “Then what? Let’s say that he _does_ go to our school?”

                “Then you get to meet your soulmate? I don’t see a downside here.” Dongmin let out a sigh, resting his chin in his hand. “You should take advantage of this! I wish I met my soulmate.” His back straightened and he smiled again, standing up so he could leave before Sanha’s class started. “I’ll look into finding him. If he is here, you have to talk to him.”

                He didn’t promise Dongmin anything, but he knew full well that if he _did_ find him, Dongmin would force them to talk. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to meet Minhyuk, but he would prefer not to know where he was until he was twenty-five or something. Was he really mentally prepared to meet the person he would live with for the rest of his life? What if seeing him so early in life made them get tired of their relationship?

                Great, now the rest of the class would be spent having an existential crisis.

                At least it was over quickly, Sanha thought, but he knew that lunch meant an update on the whole ‘Find Minhyuk’ thing. What he expected was correct, and he could tell when Dongmin ran down the corridor and almost crashed into him, his hair a mess and his breathing irregular. His chattering started as they walked to the lunch room, explaining that he spent the entire period wasting his time looking through the classes individually until he realized that he could have just entered the name into the search bar. Even geniuses had their bad days, Sanha supposed.

                Either way, Sanha didn’t wanna hear about Minhyuk for the rest of the school day, and told him, as he scarfed down his rice, that he could come over later to explain more. Was that a bad idea? Sanha couldn’t tell, especially since Dongmin said that while he was in the computer lab _his_ soulmate seemed to write something on their arm, and was talking about it the whole way after school. It was something trivial, like his mom’s moments were, but Dongmin could gush for twelve hours about the little cat face on his arm. When Sanha asked if he wrote back, however, Dongmin shut up rather quickly.

                Apparently, it was weird that Sanha wrote back at all, something that took “guts” and made him “bold”. It wasn’t like this Minhyuk kid was intimidating, and if they were soulmates then weren’t they equal? Maybe since Dongmin was older, he just knew more things. Sanha knew things too…but not as much as Dongmin. Not yet, anyway.

                Finally they reached Sanha’s house and settled down with some cream-filled bread and milk drinks, Mrs. Yoon giving Dongmin a hello and hair ruffle. They waited until she made her way to her room before talking about the situation, Dongmin pulling out notes (yes, _notes_ , Sanha couldn’t believe it either) and explained what he knew. “So there is a Minhyuk that goes to our school, he’s only a year older than you, in fact.”

                Sanha took another bite of his bread. “Really? What’s his full name?”

                “Minhyuk…” Dongmin’s finger traced around the page until he found the name, circled at least ten times. “Park Minhyuk.”

                He leaned over and grabbed the pen Dongmin had, starting to write Minhyuk’s name on his arm. Dongmin snatched the pen out of his hand before he could finish.

                “Don’t be silly! It’ll be weird if you show that you know all this stuff about him.” Dongmin tucked the pen into his pocket. “Maybe ask where he goes to school first. Ease this whole thing in.”

                To Sanha, that seemed way more suspicious, especially since Park was such a common name in Korea. Still, Dongmin was older and probably knew what he was talking about (he hoped so, anyway). He licked his finger and rubbed off the name, writing instead ‘where do you go to school?’ Since he knew that he went to the same school, he was sure that he would be home by now. That was, if he wasn’t involved in any clubs. but if _Dongmin_ could go home at a normal time today, even with his constantly busy schedule, he was sure this Minhyuk guy could.

He decided to forget about it, listening to Dongmin talk about the cat face his soulmate left for the tenth time that day, but he had to admit that it was nice to ignore the thing that was driving him insane for the last few days. He didn’t want to admit that he was bothered by the whole thing (he really did love the whole nonchalant teenager thing). Dongmin and Sanha made their way up to his room, Dongmin starting on his homework and Sanha playing his video games.

Probably close to an hour later, he set his Pokémon down and saw the writing on his arm. “ _A bit nosy, don’t you think?”_

 _“_ _Shut up. We’re gonna spend our entire lives together, I have the right to know.”_

 _“_ _You first.”_

Sanha huffed, Dongmin looking up from his essay and peering over. “Did he answer? What did he say?”

“He’s being an idiot, and wants me to tell him first.” Dongmin set down the laptop and sat down on the bed, touching Sanha’s arm and frowning.

“Well, you have to tell him, don’t you?” Sanha didn’t want to let him win, though, even if it did mean it would progress this whole thing further. He knew he was being a bratty teen, but this Minhyuk guy really grinded his gears.

Still, he grabbed the pen that he tucked away in his pocket – he had a feeling he’d need it pretty often, and decided an easily washable one was the best – and wrote down his high school hesitantly. There was a long pause before he got a reply, and all it read was ‘ _oh_ ’. That made him nervous, did Minhyuk suspect that he knew that they were at the same school? Or was he just surprised to find that they were at the same school? Dongmin assured him that it wasn’t a big deal and maybe they should end the conversation there. Sanha did, but he also was a bit worried.

***

He didn’t expect to admit it, but he was a little disappointed to not have any words on his skin. Maybe the question was a little intrusive on his part, even if they were supposed to live together forever. There was always a possibility that Minhyuk was one of _those_ people – the kind to hate the whole soulmate system. Getting friendzoned by his soulmate would suck.

The school day went by slowly, the agonizing pain of knowing he made a mistake making focusing rather hard. Even if Sanha acted like he didn’t care, he was always a bit of a perfectionist, and he understands the fact that building the relationship now was the most sensitive part. This is where you had to be kind and gentle, but his soulmate was just so frustrating that he couldn’t deal with him. Maybe it was because he was a teenager too, but something about him just irritated the hell out of Sanha.

Lunch came and Sanha welcomed it with open arms, glad to be with Dongmin and even Myungjun (only because Jinwoo wasn’t there), and he had to admit he scarfed down his food way too quickly.

“Dongmin, do you never feed that kid?” Myungjun pointed the chopstick in his direction, a piece of rice hitting his eye. Sanha swatted him away, frowning as he ate some more meat. He was hoping that the food would distract him, but it wasn’t doing the best job.

Sanha took a sip of his milk drink, pushing his tray aside after finishing it. “Where’s Jinwoo?”

Myungjun’s lips puckered up, letting out a sigh. “He’s with the dance team right now, apparently one of the kids is a rapper like him. He wanted to audition for the spring concert but they don’t have someone who plays an instrument.” He took another bite. “Well, Jinnie plays drums but they need something else.”

“Oh? Is he writing a song this time?” Sanha perked up when Dongmin asked that, suddenly very interested in Jinwoo. Sanha enjoyed singing himself, and he had some little songs scribbled into notebooks and binders that he lost or forgot. Plus, if he really was going to write a song, he played the guitar very well and would love to help.

Myungjun nodded and was about to reply, but Jinwoo jogged up to the table and sat down, kissing the top of his boyfriend’s head and grinning. “Hey guys. I’d like to introduce Rocky, he’s in the dance team and he raps too, a second year.”

After waving hello to Jinwoo, Sanha opened his mouth to ask about the song. But, his agenda was quickly derailed when his eyes fell on the boy, Rocky, who stood over Jinwoo awkwardly. His brown hair was tousled gently, soft waves reminding him of the wood on the trees he used to play on when he was little. His smile was wide, cheeks pushing his eyes into half-crescents and his white teeth showing. Simply put, he was the most handsome boy he knew to date and maybe his soulmate had to wait.

               


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sanha is suddenly forced to be with rocky entirely too much, and minhyuk will have to wait.

                “This is Dongmin, Myungjun, and Sanha.” Jinwoo gestured at each of them as he introduced them, Rocky smiling and waving. At Sanha, however, his stare lingered for just an extra second, something that Sanha noticed. Why was that? Of all the people at the table (especially Dongmin) why did he stare at _him_ a little longer? Nonetheless, the boy sat down and laced his fingers together, looking at Jinwoo to start the conversation. “Anyway, introductions aside, he’ll be hanging around for a while now, at least until we finish our practice.”

                The idea of Rocky sitting across from him for any more than one day was very stressful to him, and he had enough on his plate with Minhyuk already. Maybe he could stop being Minhyuk’s soulmate if he started liking Rocky. “Oh, Jinwoo. I heard you needed someone who played. I can play guitar, and I sing, y’know.”

                Jinwoo took a bite of his food, mulling over the choices and glancing between Sanha and Rocky. “Hmm, alright. Meet us after school in the practice room, I already started writing the raps with Rocky so you’ll probably help cover the singing.”

                He didn’t mind – Sanha had written songs before and it would be nice practice. Besides, he had never helped write a song with raps in it, so that would be interesting. The idea of Rocky was still kind of terrifying, but a few hours later he found himself walking through empty halls and towards the practice room.

                Maybe this would be a good way to turn this bad luck around, Sanha thought. He was as usual proved wrong once his arm started spelling out characters. “ _Whatcha doin?_ ”

                This was definitely not the time, despite him having a pen tucked away in his pocket. Still, he couldn’t just leave him hanging, and he could always wash it off after telling Jinwoo he was there. “ _Why do you want to know??_ ”

                “ _Keeping tabs. I gotta watch over my cute little boyfriend._ ” Sanha rolled his eyes, seeing the practice room in the distance.

                “ _I’ve never even met you, and this is even worse than some online dating b.s._ ” Did this guy really expect a few words exchanged on their damn arms to mean a relationship? Sanha would come to Minhyuk when he was ready for a relationship, but it wasn’t now or any time near now. “ _I’m busy now, don’t write anything._ ”

                “Yah, Sanha!” Jinwoo was in the doorway, waving for Sanha to hurry up. He tucked away the pen again, hoping to God that Minhyuk would listen to him for once. He was lucky for a few minutes, anyway, and was allowed to go wash off his arm before they started. “Rocky is washing up too, the bathroom is around that corner.”

                What an awful coincidence that he was in the bathroom at the same time. Sanha walked over to the door, taking a deep breath before pushing the door in. Rocky was standing over the sink, washing his arm off. Sanha cleared his throat and walked in, going up to one of the other sinks and starting to do the same thing. Rocky looked up, rather startled, but softened his expression when he saw Sanha. It seemed like he finished his cleaning already, wiping it off on his shirt.

                It was a little awkward, the water running being the only noise in the room. Thankfully, Rocky broke it. “Sanha, right?”

                “Yeah!” He looked up from the sink, looking back down to see that Minhyuk had washed off his writing as well. That was a relief, now he didn’t have to mother him and tell him to wash up. They didn’t speak another word, silently walking back to the practice room where Jinwoo had already set up a computer and opened the word document with the lyrics.

                They worked for hours, and Sanha noticed that Rocky and Jinwoo were picky. They were picky about the melody, picky about the tune, picky about the lyrics. Sanha was pretty sure they’d be picky about his _breathing_ if they could be (Jinwoo did mention his braces and had the audacity to ask when he was getting them off). It wasn’t that working towards excellence was a bad thing, it just wasn’t something Sanha expected for a school concert. Besides, he hadn’t worked this seriously on a song in his whole life.

                He had to admit that it was coming along nicely, and thank God it was. After all the hard work they were dedicating to this – especially since it was already six in the evening – it would have been a pain to know that it wasn’t a good song after all. Jinwoo said that he wanted to name it ‘Star’, something for Myungjun or some cheesy thing like that. He had already written his rap, and all that Sanha could remember about it was how horrible sweet it was, a line talking about putting his hand on his waist and dancing. He sure hoped Minhyuk never did this to him.

                Sanha’s lines were a little cheesy too, especially since he decided on the chorus and it called whoever  _he_ was dedicating it to a star. Still, his wasn’t the worst and it wasn’t his song, so he didn’t mind too much.

                “Sanha, how about ‘uncertainty of the future’?” Sanha strummed a bit, trying to fit in Jinwoo’s request and scribbling it on to the page. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

                It was another hour before they decided to stop there, a good working structure to base it off of. Sanha had a feeling that they would need the whole week, especially since he heard Jinwoo and Rocky discuss doing another song and even choreographing it. He sure hoped they knew he wasn’t going to dance, not when he was still awkward and lanky. What if Minhyuk saw? What if he went to the spring concert? Then again, school concerts didn’t seem like the sort of thing he’d be into.

                They parted ways at the doorway, Sanha putting in headphones and listening to what he had recorded so far. It was really good, and he wondered if Myungjun knew that Jinwoo could sing as well as rap. Maybe it was a little far that he wrote down the times that Rocky sang, but the pen started moving across his skin and he just had to. It wasn’t that he was going to replay it a million times or anything, he just wanted to make sure he got the notes right. Not that he doubted him either or anything!

                “ _What’s that?_ ”

                Sanha forgot for a moment that Minhyuk existed (unregrettably) and got a little embarrassed at the times, not that he knew about what it was or anything. “ _It’s times, for a song._ ”

                “ _You got a crush on the singer?_ ㅋㅋㅋ”

                “ _Yes_.” Damn it, that wasn’t what Sanha wanted to say. He wasn’t even sure if he liked Rocky, he just met him. And he was talking to his soulmate for heaven’s sake, he couldn’t just tell him he had a crush on someone. What if he depended on the soulmate system, and his whole life was crumbling before his eyes?

                Sanha was nervous the entire walk home, horribly scared that he had ruined a relationship that just a few hours ago he wished didn’t exist. Finally, when he reached his house, he got an answer. “ _What’s their name?_ ”

                He panicked. If Minhyuk went to the same school, he surely knew who Rocky was. They were in the same grade and everything, and Rocky seemed like he would be a pretty popular kid. But he couldn’t just lie either, that was totally against his morals. “ _Rocky, he’s really cool and nice to me._ ” Spitefully, Sanha added, “ _unlike you_.”

                “ _Wow, you sure showed me! This Rocky kid sounds like a tool._ ”

                “ _You don’t know him!_ ”

                “ _Yeah, but he’s nice to you, he must be dumb._ ”

                It sure is a good thing for Minhyuk that Sanha didn’t know who he was, because he would have found him and punched him in the face.

***

                Sanha didn’t expect Dongmin to understand his unrequited crush for Rocky, but he also didn’t expect him to hit him on the back of the head, either. He got an earful of how ungrateful he was, especially since he was so lucky to have Minhyuk at the same school as him, and that Dongmin was just _this_ close to drowning him in his water. It wasn’t like Sanha chose to be in love with the very kind, very attractive, very talented Rocky From Grade Two, he just was and that was life. If he just appreciated it while it lasted, he could let go before he met Minhyuk. Until then, he would live his life and adore the rapper from afar.

                Then again, he never really got a chance to look at him from afar, since they were suddenly in situations where they had to be together. The whole week was full of Rocky, and a strange lack of Minhyuk, until he got home. Rocky was like a good luck charm that rid him of Minhyuk, it seemed. Minhyuk never talked to him about anything other than Rocky anymore, any time he tried initiating conversation he would shoot him down with ‘how is rocky’ or ‘what does your boyfriend think’. It made him second guess the idea of crushing on Rocky, his guilt causing him to be unable to meet his eyes.

                Still, they managed to finish the song and luckily, he convinced Jinwoo to work on the dance number without him, it was mainly a rap since Jinwoo and Rocky weren’t very confident in their singing abilities. In reality, they were both triple threats (rapping, singing, and dancing) and Sanha was in total awe of them. Not only was he too awkwardly long to dance, he had never tried rapping in a fear of failing.

                Even his singing was causing him a ton of anxiety, the idea of doing it in front of his peers suddenly dawning on him. It was almost like Minhyuk knew that, his words kinder towards the end of the week compared to the beginning. He dropped the concert on him just the Thursday before, since it was on Saturday, and hoped that he wouldn’t be able to come. He could live with the agony of embarrassing himself in front of anyone besides his soulmate…hence why he would like to postpone meeting him for as long as possible.

                Then again, the end of the week approached very quickly, and Saturday fell into Sanha’s hands. He was in his bedroom, adjusting the outfit he was wearing and looking in the mirror. They all decided to wear their uniforms but just put cardigans over it, to give a very schoolboy-esque look. It was cute, really it was, but he felt like a total idiot in it. _Rocky_ looked cute, even Jinwoo did, but he felt like a giant dork.

                “ _Hey loser._ ” It was on his hand this time, and Minhyuk was lucky to write on his hand, since his arms were covered. Sanha rolled up his sleeve, taking out the newly bought washable marker and replying with a hello. “ _Isn’t your concert today?_ ”

                “ _Yeah, why?_ ”

                “ _Break a leg._ ” Sanha knew it was dumb that it made him giddy to hear a compliment, but he couldn’t control his dumb heart.

***

                He wasn’t nervous, he told the people around him. He was a beacon of confidence. He was the epitome of self-love. His brain on the other hand, reminded him that it was a lie.

                “Sanha? Are you okay?” His face probably paled a while ago, especially after he tucked himself into a curtain and stared at the ceiling. “We’re on next.”

                Of course they were on next. Was Minhyuk in the audience now? Sanha shook his hands and frowned, grabbing his guitar and lining up behind Jinwoo. The voice introducing them was muffled and hard to hear, but it might be how worried he was. “…Park, Jinwoo Park, and Yoon Sanha!”

                Was Rocky’s last name Park too? That was probably important to know. They settled down in their seats, Sanha strumming once and hitting the beat on his guitar, counting down a few before starting.

                Star was a nice song, especially since they had decided to let Rocky speak the introduction. “If you look at me from the outside, I seem very happy. It’ll seem as if I’m enjoying life.” Rocky glanced at Sanha before turning back to look at the audience. “But if you look inside of me, you’ll see that I’m having a painful time.”

                If he wasn’t ready more focused on his guitar playing than anything he had ever done before, he would have noticed that he looked at him and probably screamed for an hour. Luckily for him, and the sanity of his parents, he hadn’t noticed. The performance finished smoothly, the loud applause from the audience giving them giant smiles. Their hard work had paid off and it was a great feeling. He pushed the annoying ‘is Minhyuk out there, though?’ to the back of his mind and piled into the car to go out and eat.

***

                “Jinwoo, let’s get married.” This was probably the twelfth time that Myungjun told him that, and Sanha would like to replace his so _da_ with so _ju_. He understood that this song was dedicated to Myungjun and all, but it was cheesier than his ramen (and it was cheese ramen, to clarify). “Really. I’ll get a certificate and marry us.”

                Dongmin was giggling into his drink, taking a piece of meat from the grill. “I’ll cover it all. Sanha can be the flower boy and Minhyuk can be the ring bearer.” Sanha just rolled his eyes as usual, eating and tuning in and out of the conversation. He wanted to know what it was like to see Rocky in a suit, though.

                His fingers snuck into his pocket, taking out his phone and looking up if people could like people other than their soulmate. After searching for just a few moments, very discreetly since Dongmin didn’t like phones at the table, he found a thread talking about it. Everyone, however, talked about how they actually _met_ their soulmates without knowing it. But that couldn’t apply to Sanha, because Rocky was a kind boy who was down-to-earth, and Minhyuk was a total idiot. Then again, Dongmin never did show him what Minhyuk looked like, right?

                “Sanha! Pass me the rice.” Myungjun’s request broke him out of the thought, eyes moving up to meet Rocky’s. There was something else in his stare, locking eyes for far too long. Did he see what was on his screen? Suddenly his entire body felt like it went up in flames, and he was sure that his cheeks and ears were flushed. Hopefully Rocky didn’t catch on, even if Sanha was probably pretty obvious. Even if Sanha did have a crush on him (just a little, a tiny bit), Rocky still had a soulmate that he would one day meet and love forever. And Minhyuk, even if he was a total jerk, didn’t deserve to be alone.

                This was stupid and it made Sanha want to drown himself in the guilt he felt, noticing now that there was a little peek of text on his arm, causing him to roll it down a little further.

                “ _You were good tonight._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if i told you i knew how this fic ended.....it would be a lie  
> how do you think sanha is gonna react now that minhyuk said he was good :0 guilty sanha may need to get back in line hmmm  
> hit me up at [starrybinu](https://starrybinu.tumblr.com) !!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> upload schedule is decided!! it's gonna be every other day! (so next update is jan 9th, jan 11th, etc)

                “Dongmin I’m going to rip my hair out, I swear to God.”

                “Sanha, it’s not that big of a deal.”

                They had left the restaurant an hour or so ago, it was close to midnight now. His parents didn’t mind that Dongmin stayed over, or that it was so late, since it was a Saturday anyway. Sanha sure was glad considering he was going to have a panic attack over the fact that Minhyuk _actually came_ when he didn’t expect him to. Dongmin was calm, as usual, and he really needed his level-headedness.          

                “It’s definitely a big deal! He saw me, and I haven’t seen him!”

                “Yes, you h-” Sanha narrowed his eyes at him, waiting for him to finish. “Have had a chance to. And you didn’t take it up.”

                Of course he didn’t take it up. It was totally too early to see him, and he would have liked for Minhyuk to agree on that. Sanha fell onto his bed, laying on Dongmin’s legs as he strolled through his phone. “I wonder if he’s cute.”

                “No idea.” Dongmin laughed and patted his shoulder. “Probably just to you, since he’s yours.”

                He was his, Sanha realized, and that made Rocky oh-so-complicated. Maybe he should speed up the Great Meeting to allow himself to fall in love with him quickly, Sanha was sure that if he kissed him or something then Rocky would be quickly forgotten. Then again, if his love was only skin deep then why would he want to nurture it?

                He was going to ask Dongmin that question, but judging by the light snores he was making, it seemed that he had fallen asleep before he could. Sanha sighed, tucking Dongmin into the throw blanket and laying down next to him. “Dongmin,” he whispered just in case he woke him up, and flicked the light off. “while you’re waiting for your soulmate, you can have mine.”

                “ _You never said thank you, y’know._ ” It would have been nice if the slotted moonlight _didn’t_ fall on his arm, then he could have never seen this. “ _Aren’t you glad I came?_ ”

                “ _I’m sleeping. Goodnight._ ” Sanha did what Sanha does best, avoiding his feelings.

***

                If he knew that Rocky was coming, Sanha would definitely never agree to coming out today. He had enough on his mind, Minhyuk leaving little sad faces up and down his arms, hands, even one on his neck. Sanha supposed this called for a turtleneck, and he once again ignored the impending doom he felt inside to go out to the mall when he really didn’t want to. If Dongmin hadn’t stayed over last night, he could have easily gotten out of it by pretending to be sick. Next time he asks to stay over, Sanha will say no.

                It was already lunch time when they got to the mall, and the food court was almost full. Sanha stayed close behind Dongmin, practically clinging to the back of his shirt. He hated crowded places, and he hated being here, and if Dongmin wasn’t the best hyung he knew, he would hate him too. “Let’s come back later, when there’s less people.”

                “Don’t worry! Jinwoo saved us a table.” Dongmin smiled at him, looking around until he spotted the spot. He hated Jinwoo, add that to the list.

                The table was tucked into a corner, one of those plant-filled dividers that separated the food court from the mall directly next to it. Myungjun sat with Jinwoo of course, and there was a seat open next to Rocky and two at the end of the table. Despite the pleading look in his eyes, Dongmin pushed him towards Rocky. Sanha sat down – not before a long pause and a ton of hesitation – and gave everyone a small smile. They all greeted each other, making small talk and discussing what they would do today and what to eat.

                Movies were an option that were brought up a lot, but Sanha was pretty sure Myungjun said that just so he could make-out with Jinwoo without the others noticing. Sanha did notice, however, and that annoying giggling was probably noticed by everyone in the damn theater. Plus, it would be so awkward to sit next to Rocky while their friends were kissing. On top of that, the movie they wanted to watch was a romantic comedy that had just been released, which meant the theater would probably be full as well. Overall, the movies were _not_ what Sanha wanted to do.

                But, of course, he was the youngest and the older boys decided that’s what they would do when they finished eating. Sanha was ready to order ten servings if that meant he could push off this dumb film for longer. Jinwoo was a slow eater thankfully, so it gave Sanha time to think. If time to think meant staring at Rocky and internally screaming over his misfortune.

                A few minutes after everyone had finished, they were in line for tickets and talking amongst themselves. “Rocky, you haven’t talked much today. Are you alright?”

                “Ah, yeah, sorry. Just a little tired from last night.” Rocky smiled and Dongmin looped an arm around Sanha’s waist.

                “I see! Sanha barely got any sleep either, he kept tossing and turning the whole time.” Sanha glared at him, shooing the arm away. Myungjun and Jinwoo gestured for them to follow, tickets in hand. At least Dongmin would be forced to be quiet when the movie started. They piled into the theater, taking the only spots that were open. They were still lucky to have all the seats next to each other, and Dongmin sat in chair next to a stranger. Sanha was in between Dongmin and Rocky, with Jinwoo and Myungjun at the end of the row. He was glad he didn’t have to be next to that.

                The movie was actually pretty good, drawing a few chuckles within the first couple minutes, and by the halfway point the whole theater was practically in tears from laughing so hard. A little after the halfway point, however, Dongmin had let out a small gasp and gotten up with the stranger next to him, leaving the theater. Sanha watched him walk out, pouting that he would ditch him like that. He probably just had to go to the bathroom, but this meant that he was sitting next to Rocky during a romance movie. He looked pretty absorbed in the movie though, especially when the main man started dancing.

                He didn’t have to start talking to him or anything, especially since it was a movie and he was supposed to be quiet, but he turned to look at Rocky either way. Rocky seemed to feel his stare and turned, his face flushing which caused Sanha to flush too. Was it weird to stare at him? Once he looked back at the screen and saw it was a kissing scene, he realized it _was_ weird to look at him at least during that moment.

                Sanha would love to stop being so awkward around Rocky, but as the days passed and his responsibility to stop liking him grew, he couldn’t help it. He sure loved hiding behind Dongmin, but Dongmin wasn’t there for the rest of the movie, so he sat in his seat with his eyes glued to the screen just in case Rocky even suspected him looking over. After the movie was finished, Sanha bolted to try and find Dongmin, hoping to God that he was at least still in the mall. He didn’t have to look far, he was standing next to the snacks line with the stranger he was sitting by in the movies, both with blushed cheeks and soft giggles. This was gross, Sanha thought, and he never expected to see his best friend so in love.

                As badly as he would love to watch this annoying love affair, he ran right up and punched him in the arm. “Yah! Do you forget how old you are?”

                “Do you forget you ditched me?” Sanha shot a glare at the poor boy that had to be under his wrath. “Who’s this?”

                “I’m Moon Bin.” The boy held out a hand, a soft grin lighting up his features. He noticed a cat face on his arm, Sanha suddenly clicking who he was. Just to be sure, he grabbed Dongmin’s arm and pulled up the sleeve, noticing the cat face on the exact same spot.

                “Oh my God.” Sanha kept looking between the cat faces and human faces. “Oh my _God._ You’re Dongmin’s soulmate.”

                The boy put the hand Sanha forgot into his pocket, waving his arm instead and laughing a little. “It sure seems like it.”

                If Dongmin had been bright before, he looked like the sun now. He was smiling so wide that Sanha was sure it was going to hurt for a week. Sanha nodded, unsure what to even do now, so he just walked back and stared at them from afar. He was glad that he found his soulmate, but he was also pondering the inevitable question whether he would be ditched for Moon Bin or not. Plus, he realized that somehow Dongmin had met his soulmate before him. Sure, he was older, but Sanha had even talked to Minhyuk and he said that he had seen him as well. And yes he did also want to avoid him, but he was starting to regret that choice.

                He especially regretted it when Dongmin introduced Bin to the rest of the group, everyone talking to him earnestly. This was Couple Central now, and Sanha felt like shriveling up and rolling away. The hours passed quickly now that they had introductions and new people to be friends with. By the end of the hour, Bin was practically part of the squad. He hated feeling annoyed by it since Dongmin was so happy.

                And in that moment, Sanha decided that he was done being stupid about the whole thing and he would just meet with Minhyuk. What did he have to lose? They both knew they were at the same school, they had talked before. Sanha was admittedly being a baby who avoided confrontation, and while he sat with his hands on his lap, miserably looking between the couples and Rocky, he decided that today was the day.

                Sanha excused himself from the table and made his way around the mall, wandering and wondering when to ask Minhyuk to meet him. He would prefer to leave now and end this awkward limbo but he knew that Dongmin would be pissed if he left. Dongmin would be preoccupied for the next week probably, so it wasn’t that he had to worry about it. That was it, Sanha told himself as he pulled out the washable marker and sat down on a bench. He would tell Minhyuk to meet him as soon as possible and just get this over with. It didn’t have to be special or cute for him, he already knew what Minhyuk was like and didn’t expect anything like that from him after all.

                “ _Where are you? I want to meet._ ” Sanha kept his stare on his arm stubbornly, waiting for him to answer and shaking his leg.

                “ _Why?? I can’t right now, I’m busy._ ”

                “ _I’m more important. Meet me in the mall._ ”

                “ _Sanha, I can’t._ ” Sanha started walking back to the table, glancing between his arm and the food court. Everyone at the table was enjoying themselves, all ordering another round of food after they had brought Bin into the group (just snacks this time). He expected Rocky to look like the odd man out, but he was focused on his arm and the writing on it. “ _We can meet later._ ”

                The ink on his skin stopped, and so did Rocky. Sanha blinked at the coincidence. “ _Where are you._ ”

                “ _I’m with my friends._ ” The writing time was matching exactly.

                “ _Turn around._ ” He ducked behind a plant divider, praying to God that Rocky wouldn’t turn around…but he did. Sanha took a deep breath in, stepping away from the divider and clenching his fists. “Park Minhyuk.”

                Unfortunately, he turned around again and his gaze fell directly on Sanha, who was now sniffling and crying – just a little bit – and very, very, _very_ angry. He had just spent more than a week of his life with his soulmate acting like a different person, lying and tricking him, treating him like a little kid who shouldn’t know. He was frustrated, angry, tired of being guilty, and absolutely finished with Park Minhyuk and definitely done with Rocky.

                Sanha picked up a drink left on the table next to him and promptly threw it at Rocky before he could reach him, screeching an “I hate you” and running out of the mall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, this had to happen. poor minhyuk!! should have just said it was him from the beginning!! (but also, sanha was a little clueless)  
> how do you feel about the Big Reveal? :0  
> catch me on tumblr at [starrybinu](http://starrybinu.tumblr.com)!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sanha despises his soulmate but minhyuk feels otherwise.

               Soulmates are a lie, and Sanha will lay himself in his grave before he likes Minhyuk, or _Rocky_ again. He was laying under his blanket, rolled into a little ball and stubbornly refusing to talk. Dongmin had left the group and followed Sanha home, hoping that he would talk to him but he refused. He stayed even though he refused, at least giving him some support. Dongmin knew, apparently, but he would deal with his best friend later (he would also hit him for calling this reaction childish). He knew that this was childish, he knew that it was silly of him to be so annoyed, but Sanha was honest with Minhyuk – even about liking Rocky.

               And this total idiot didn’t even text him or write anything. He had Rocky’s number for the song making, but had never used it, and now he was sure that he didn’t want to. “Sanha, it’s getting late, you need to eat dinner.”

               He didn’t answer Dongmin, of course, and barely moved. Sanha just didn’t understand why he couldn’t just tell him it him, instead of acting _jealous of himself._ “I’m not eating.”

               “Jesus, Sanha.” He felt the bed sink as the blanket was snatched away from him. “Stop being a baby. It’s okay to be upset, but you choosing to run away from this is so stupid. Don’t throw this away when you have a great opportunity.”

               “Let me be mad!” Sanha pouted and snatched the cover back over himself, peeking his eyes just above the top.

               Dongmin sighed a bit, petting his hair in an attempt to comfort him. “Fine, I’ll give you today. Tomorrow we’ll go and you can talk it out with Minhyuk. Face to face, too, not through writing.”

***

               They sat across from each other in the Starbucks, sipping their drinks without a word exchanged. Sanha was pissed off and Minhyuk was visibly uncomfortable, his feet shuffling under the table. It was the worst mix – Sanha too stubborn to say anything and Minhyuk too guilty to start. Half of the drinks were done by the time Minhyuk cleared his throat.

               “So, er. I’m sorry.”

               “No.” Sanha took an aggressive sip and pushed his drink aside. “I don’t accept your apology. And also, I quit.”

               The corner of Minhyuk’s mouth twitched, a faint smile appearing. “Quit what?”

               “Being your soulmate! How can I trust you if you lied from the start?” Sanha realized his drink was empty, and reached over to take a sip from Minhyuk’s. “See? I can do that. Because you’re a liar.”

               “Ah, you hurt my heart. I still love you, Sanha.”

               “Shove it.” He grabbed his empty drink and walked over to the trash can, tossing it away and pointing at Minhyuk. “We won’t date, or get married, or kiss, or anything. Not until I can trust you.”

               Minhyuk stood as well, throwing away his trash and putting a hand on Sanha’s cheek. The younger tried to swat it away, but Minhyuk leaned in to kiss his other cheek and stepped back, shoving his hands into his pockets. “See you at school, _soulmate_.”

               Sanha had no time for school, and especially no time for the burning sensation on his cheek that screamed ‘you idiot, you still love him’. If he had to drown himself in homework to get over him, he would. That was exactly what he did for a week, tailing after Dongmin and following him in and out of the library and study groups, he was even debating joining a club he was in. The busier he kept himself, the less confrontation he had. He just wanted control over his love life for a little bit, being able to choose when he wanted to fall in love with Minhyuk.

               He had already, he realized now, but he was only a first year and wanted to at least get used to the idea that he had already met the person that would go through everything with him. Besides, he was still getting used to the fact that he had liked Rocky – someone who was kind to him and constantly shined with talent – but hated Minhyuk, someone who had been rude and would constantly bicker with him. Wasn’t this some sort of sign that it was strange for Minhyuk to have both those sides? In a way, Sanha was glad that Minhyuk was both because he enjoyed bickering sometimes but also enjoyed the softness of someone genuinely caring.

               The next few weeks were incredibly frustrating for him. He was stuck between managing this drama he had created for himself and managing the last stretch of the school year. Once summer came he could at least try to juggle this whole thing and maybe convince himself to actually grow up and talk to Minhyuk properly. Until finals ended, however, he wasn’t interested in anyone besides Dongmin (he always knew the answers, after all).

               But that was another issue that Sanha had – everyone besides Minhyuk was busy. Dongmin was constantly with Bin nowadays and he knew better than to ask Myungjun or Jinwoo. On top of that, Minhyuk had taken the classes he was in before since he was a year older. If he wasn’t a total jerk, he would love to ask him for help (but he was, and that was that). He was lucky that Dongmin agreed to come over that afternoon and help Sanha for a few hours.

               He trusted Dongmin, he really did, but once he came up to his doorstep with Minhyuk and ran away, he would no longer trust Dongmin for as long as he lived. Minhyuk gave him a little wave and grin, “Hello.”

               Minhyuk sure was lucky that his mother came to the door to ask who it was, because he would have slammed the door in his face. “Ah, Sanha. Who is this?”

               “I’m Park Minhyuk, Sanha’s soulmate!” Mrs. Yoon pulled Minhyuk in faster than the speed of light, sitting him down and offering him cookies and tea. Sanha was going to explode, he wanted Minhyuk out of there as quickly as possible but he knew that once his mom wanted to talk it would take ages. Every time he tried to interrupt, his mom would ask _again_ why he didn’t introduce him earlier. After a thirty-minute conversation, Sanha had managed to whisk Minhyuk to his room and avoid his mother’s interrogation.

               He sort of regretted it though, considering the only friend he had in his room before was Dongmin, and now his soulmate was sitting on his bed. Sanha stood over him with his arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. “Why are you here?”

               “Wow, your mom is so nice. Hey, is that you as a baby?” Minhyuk dived for the picture on his bedside table and Sanha yelped for him not to. “Oh my God, you look exactly the same!”

               “Where are your books?” Sanha sat on the bed and pushed him away from the picture. “If Dongmin didn’t tell you I’m trying to study, I’m going to strangle him.”

               Minhyuk ignored him again, making his way around the room and poking at the different knick-knacks and pictures, strumming his guitar once or twice. Sanha’s kpop album collection was impressive, albeit a little embarrassing, and Minhyuk just had to go through every single one. Sanha was getting angrier by the moment and finally reached his limit when he reached for his lyric journal.

               A few minutes later (after Sanha yelled at him) they were sprawled on his floor and working on the final review. The amount of times Sanha had to scoot away from Minhyuk was incredulous, he really got bold after meeting him properly. No, Sanha did not want a kiss on the cheek or hand or forehead – even if his brain said yes, he did. Sanha also didn’t want to admit that Minhyuk was really intelligent and taught him a lot today, but that’s because Minhyuk said that about himself already.

               “You have to be kidding me, how don’t you know how to do this?” There was Minhyuk talking, Sanha thought to himself, not Rocky.

               “Sometimes I wonder why I liked you.” Sanha grumbled and scribbled down the answer, “If you’re just here to be mean then you can leave.”

               “I’m having too much fun annoying you.” Minhyuk reached over and tapped his nose, Sanha scrunching his face up. “Cute.”

               “Listen, I don’t like you, you stupid idiot.”

               “Are you sure? You turned into a tomato when I touched you.”

               “Shut up!” He was right, considering how warm the room felt now. Before he could yell at him again, his mom opened the door and asked if Minhyuk would be staying over. He was going to reply but his mom said that dinner was ready in thirty minutes and that Sanha could grab an extra pillow for Minhyuk. There was no way in hell that Minhyuk was going to sleep within a fifty feet radius of him.

***

               “Dongmin, I need help. SOS. Mayday.” Sanha was whispering into his phone, crouching behind the staircase and shifting his gaze between the stairs and the dining room.

               “What’s wrong? Is Minhyuk being mean?”

               “God, yes, he is! He needs to leave! But my mom keeps talking to him and even invited him to stay over!” Sanha stopped for a moment when an eruption of laughter fell on his ears. After his dad came back from work, he had loved Minhyuk as well. Sanha’s life was falling apart before his eyes.

               “Aw, that’s so cute! Have -” There was shuffling in the background and a giggle. Sanha heard Dongmin’s voice grow distant. “Bin! Stop – I’m on the phone!” The giggling continued and Sanha pouted, “I have to go Sanha, but have fun and stay out of trouble. If you’re too uncomfortable, you can always go for a walk and then lock him out.”

               That was surprisingly a good idea, and Sanha decided he was going to do it. The dining room was only filled with noises of plates being picked up, and he ducked behind a shelf as his parents made their way upstairs. Sanha snuck into the kitchen and saw Minhyuk washing up, his eyebrows furrowing. _What a kiss-ass_ , he thought to himself. “Ahem.”

               Minhyuk turned around, an apron and rubber gloves giving a very domestic feeling that Sanha would love to erase from his memory. “Oh! Look at me doing your chores. I didn’t know you were irresponsible in more ways than your love life.”

               “Let’s go for a walk.” Minhyuk cocked an eyebrow at the suggestion, the idea sounding like a trap.

               “Why? Are you gonna kill me?” Sanha crossed his arms and stared at him, Minhyuk slowly drying the last plate and setting the apron on the counter. “Okay. Let’s go.”

               The early summer aesthetics of the walk were definitely calming, the warm breeze and soft tweeting of night bird letting the silence between them seem natural. He used to love these walks when he was younger, it was always fun to try and catch bugs (not that his mother thought so) and grab a bite to eat from a food stand. It was weird to be sharing such a nice memory with this stupid boy, but maybe it would soften him up. The warm breeze was interrupted for a moment, the cold cutting through Sanha’s t-shirt and causing him to shudder. Minhyuk glanced over and grinned, taking off his jacket and throwing it at him.

               “Where would you be without me?” Sanha stuck his tongue out but put the jacket on. It was still warm and had a faint scent of Minhyuk. There was something, maybe it was his shampoo or cologne, that made the jacket just a little cozier. It was still Minhyuk, of course, so he had to dislike it out of principal, but if it was Rocky like a week ago he could have enjoyed this.

               “Happy? Healthy? _Studying_?”

               “Really funny, Sanha.” It fell silent again and the crickets filled the space. There was a low sizzle of a tteokbokki stand not too far away, the spicy rice cakes’ warm scent wafting in their direction. He didn’t hate Minhyuk that much when he wasn’t talking, he realized. Maybe this was a good chance to apologize for being so juvenile, but he changed his mind when Minhyuk held his hand out for his. “C’mon, it’s not like we’re strangers.”

               “No. I don’t like you.” Sanha’s cheeks burned with embarrassment, especially since his hand had shot out to meet Minhyuk’s. “I’m going to tell you now, Park Minhyuk. I don’t like you in any romantic or platonic way and I refuse to date you. I’ll find another person to date, someone who doesn’t want to wait for their soulmate.”

               Minhyuk squinted, stopping their walk. “Really?”

“Y-yes! I will!” Sanha could feel him stare, but his own eyes were averted towards the food stand. “And you can’t stop me, because you don’t own me.”

               “That’s fine, I’ll just make everyone know how uncomfortable I am with it.” Minhyuk’s expression changed, a giant grin and soft laugh making Sanha look up. “Because even if you don’t, I _love_ you Sanha.”

               And with that he walked over to the food stand to get the couples’ deal, leaving a very frustrated and angry Sanha to sputter to himself that he didn’t love him so it didn’t matter. But he had to admit that Minhyuk feeding him a rice cake and wiping off the sauce that dripped, asking him if it was good or if he needed a drink, brushing his hair out of his face…it did make him second guess this whole grudge thing.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i started this chapter with "hot diggity dang it's chapter 4" so i mean i think that's a good summary of how much control i have over this chapter,,,  
> anyways, do you think sanha is being a total dork and should forgive minhyuk? or does it make sense? :0  
> hmu at [@starrybinu](http://starrybinu.tumblr.com) and cry w/me  
> p.s. i might be writing a bellhop!eunwoo fic!! who would wanna read it?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for the late update. i am but a horrible procrastinator and u have the right to smack me in the nose (gently). also, once again, not proofread because i'm literally using my phone as a hotspot for internet sljdgkd

 “I love you.”

“Ew, gross.” Sanha paused. “But why?”

“Because you’re stupid and it makes me look even more intelligent.”

Minhyuk was lucky that Jinwoo was returning with their waters and chips, because Sanha was going to hit him the second they were alone. The start of summer was unfortunate, Minhyuk becoming a normal part of their friend group, and because of this, Sanha was forced to hang out with him for way too long. His Minhyuk meter was completely full and it was only the fifth day of summer. He was glad that it was never alone with him yet, but he still knew his hiking trip through the forest would be a lot more enjoyable without him (even if a tiny part of his brain said that he liked his company).

The trip to eat was a fluke, Sanha was sure of it, and he had no time for thoughtless, sarcastic boys. Even if he _did_ buy him an extra rice cake when he asked for it.

“Are you two ready?” They nodded, Minhyuk moving to open his chips and Sanha smacking his hand away. They were supposed to save them for the top of the hill, and Sanha was not going to share even if Minhyuk finished his whole bag right now. “Ah, one minute.” Jinwoo removed his phone from his pocket, turning his back to the younger pair and answering a call. Sanha could tell instantly that it was Myungjun on the other line, from the moment his voice grew softer and he was so obviously smiling even from the back. It was gross but he was used to it.

The pair bickered as they were, keeping it a bit quieter so that Jinwoo’s phone call wasn’t disturbed. He finished it and turned around with a guilty smile. “Well…it looks like you two have to hike by yourselves.”

Minhyuk smacked a hand over Sanha’s mouth before he could reject the offer, standing up and nodding. “Perfect! Have fun, Jinwoo.”

And with that, Jinwoo turned around and left before Sanha tried to bite Minhyuk’s hand away. Unfortunately, he dodged it, and Jinwoo managed to escape cleanly without an angry Sanha running after him. There was no way on God’s green earth that he was going to go hiking with Minhyuk, especially when today was prime time for couples. It wasn’t as if being mistaken for a couple would really be _wrong_ , but he also didn’t want to be associated with him in any way. Besides, he was deathly afraid of getting lost and he was sure that if Minhyuk found out that precious information, he would never hear the end of it.

Still, he had asked his mom to drop him off and it would be pretty awful to ask her to pick him up right after, so he decided that he would suffer for the sake of his sweet (until Minhyuk came over) mother. “Fine. One lap up and down, nothing else. No sight-seeing or getting off the main path either.”

As simple as his rules for this expedition was, he was very sure that it would end up being misunderstood for the sake of torturing him further. At least, that was what the grin on Minhyuk’s face sure seemed to mean. “Okay! Let’s get going, _honey_.”

“Don’t call me that!”

“ _Cutie._ ”

“Minhyuk, I will punch you square in the jaw.”

“Please don’t, _sweetheart._ ” Minhyuk got a running start on this hike.

***

If Sanha could count the number of couples he saw hiking alongside them today, he would need a lot more fingers. If Sanha could count the number of couples he saw taking breaks from hiking to make-out, he would need at least half of those fingers. These scenes were all great in a k-drama, but not exactly what he wanted to see up close and personal. That was exactly what it was, too, since they all wanted to stop directly in front of the pair to let out those annoying ‘kyaah!’s. Minhyuk was getting a laugh out of it, at least, but Sanha just felt sick to his stomach.

It was actually a pretty long hike, the main path taking you straight through the forest, but the tried-and-true paths that diverted to the sides were more fun. Sanha sure missed Dongmin right now. Hell, he even missed Bin. Not that Bin was a bad person or anything, he just made his best friend extremely lovesick and it was something Sanha never wanted to see.

Another thing Sanha didn’t want to see was Minhyuk break his neck – suprirsingly – and his worry grew as the total idiot thought jumping from rock to rock was a good idea. He looked like a mountain goat, climbing up trees and hopping off, grabbing handfuls of leaves and tossing them in the air to watch them drop. Sanha wasn’t entirely sure if it was charming or extremely annoying, but it was leaning on the latter when he started having to pick twigs out of his hair.

“Yah! You’re older than me and acting like this?” Sanha threw a stick back at him, but he dodged too well.

“What, you hate love _and_ having fun? How do you live, Sanha?’

“Very safely.” He grumbled the answer but did admit it looked like he was having a lot of fun. Minhyuk seemed to catch on to that and grabbed his hand, pulling him off the path (breaking of course one of the rules he had in place) until they were far from the other people or winding trails. “Hey, I told you we can’t do this.”

“Trust me! I’ve been here before.” If he had been there before, why was he so enamored by it? Sanha was definitely not going to trust him and have something bad happen, and whatever did happen was entirely Jinwoo’s fault. Knowing that he didn’t really have a choice, he played along with whatever game this was, letting himself be pulled around. “Okay. You hide, and I’ll find you.”

His anxiety said that was a very bad idea, because there was a high chance of Minhyuk not finding him, and if he got lost he was totally a goner. He barely had any fat on him and it would last him less than a day, plus he had no idea how to forage. What if there were bears? His brain told him that was stupid and that he knew the way back, but he still hesitated.

“What, are you chicken?”

That was where he drew the line, there was no way he was a chicken and Sanha would prove it. He turned on his heel and yelled for Minhyuk to count back from twenty, waiting until he started to bolt and look for a good place to hide.

This forest was great for that, little crevices between stacked rocks or fallen trees were ideal but not exactly where someone as tall and limb-y as Sanha could fit. Finally, he came upon a little cave-like place, tucked between two mossy rocks and some small flowers scattered across the forest floor. It was pretty, and actually rather comfortable to sit in. His jacket protected him from any moisture left over around him, and kept him warm. He could rest here for a while, he decided.

***

Sanha of the past had a consistent record of being a total idiot, Sanha of the present realized. He had been in this little cave for probably thirty minutes now and his legs were beginning to cramp as well and he started to feel claustrophobic. On top of it all, he was sure he saw a bug crawl on the wall across from him and there was no way he was going to hold in a scream for much longer. Sanha was, once again, in a very uncomfortable situation that was entirely Minhyuk’s fault.

Another ten minutes passed and his anxiety crept in like the other bug he saw, causing him to paw at his pockets in search of his phone. _No reception_. Of course. There was no need for phone lines in the middle of a forest. “Damn it, Minhyuk.” His fingers hit something else while putting the phone away – a small washable marker rolling out of the pocket and next to his leg. He had never been happier to see a marker in his life.

“ _Where are you??????_ ”

He bit his lip, getting a reply in a moment. “ _Looking for you. Where are_ you _?_ ”

Sanha felt like exploding. Minhyuk had no idea where he was and there was no chance of him finding him now. He might as well start his life as a hermit now, there were plenty of supplies around and Law Of The Jungle used to be his favorite show. He started sniffling, tears falling on the compacted dirt and loosening it a bit. In the middle of his wailing, he heard a laugh and saw Minhyuk’s head peek from around a tree.

“You even cry when you win?” Minhyuk took another look at Sanha’s face and shut his mouth. “Oh. You’re actually crying.”

Sanha wiped his tears sloppily, gathering the acorns around him and throwing them at Minhyuk. “I,” Toss. “absolutely,” Toss. “hate,” Toss. “Park,” Harder toss. “Minhyuk!”

While he threw the little weapons, Minhyuk slowly approached him until they stood toe-to-toe. Sanha really wished these dumb tears could at least wait until Minhyuk wasn’t so close to his face. They stared at each other without moving, Sanha’s sniffles and the light sounds of the forest the only thing that kept a long silence out of the way. He could tell he felt bad for pretending not to know where Sanha was, but Sanha couldn’t care less. Even if Minhyuk got on knees and begged, he still wouldn’t believe his apology.

“I’m-”

“Shut up!” Sanha sniffed again, the tough guy act interrupted. “You…you’ve brought nothing but trouble to me since I’ve first talked to you! I failed a test, lived with horrible guilt about abandoning you, have probably exfoliated two layers of my skin from all your stupid writing.

“And it’s all your fault! But have I heard even a single apology? Not even one. Including when you were caught for lying to me about who you were, huh, _Rocky_?” Sanha’s eyes stopped, but he was still as emotional as before. “My mom might think you’re cool, or Jinwoo, Myungjun, Bin, even Dongmin. But you just constantly piss me off, why would I love someone like that?!”

The forest fell silent again, Minhyuk’s lips a thin line after being scolded. “Yoon Sanha, you really exceed my expectations.”

Sanha was definitely not in the mood for anything rude from Minhyuk, and he already felt his tears threatening to come back. “Stop.”

“I really thought you couldn’t get any dumber.”

“ _Stop._ ”

“But, wow, you proved me wrong!”

He didn’t answer.

Minhyuk took a deep breath before throwing his hands in the air and screaming at the top of his lungs. “I love Yoon Sanha! I love that stupid, curly-haired, lanky, guitar-playing idiot! I love my soulmate! I love Yoon Sanha!”

This was horribly embarrassing, and Sanha felt like he was going to fling himself into the sun. He tried to reach and cover Minhyuk’s mouth before someone heard, but he snatched his wrists before he could and looked at him in the eyes. Sanha averted his gaze quickly, feeling himself flush at the sudden mood shift and attention. “Minhyuk, what the hell are you do-”

“Shut up and look at me.” Sanha met his eyes for a moment longer, seeing something in them that showed a whole lot of determination.  Suddenly, Minhyuk’s lips crashed into his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i scrapped this chapter and rewrote it on a plane....so i really hope it doesn't suck.  
> fight me for the cliffhanger at [@starrybinu](https://starrybinu.tumblr.com)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not proofread, i'm sorry. also, long overdue!!

Sanha doesn’t hate Minhyuk.

He’s been trying to convince himself that he still does for what seemed like days, but every time he thought of Minhyuk in a bad way, that image of him inches from Sanha’s face and quickly closing the gap replayed a million times. Sanha was baffled – Minhyuk had really kissed him, this wasn’t some weird dream. He had no idea how throwing acorns at him made him want to kiss him, but Sanha would love to have a pouch of acorns near him at all times.

There was now the predicament of admitting that he actually liked him back (which, really, should be expected since they’re soulmates or whatever) but Sanha’s pride said that it was really stupid. Plus, Dongmin would definitely never let him live down that he actually hated his soulmate. On top of that, Minhyuk would tease him into the afterworld.

As scared as he was of doing it, he decided that calling Dongmin and telling him what happened was probably the best idea. Surely him and Bin had kissed before and he would be the best hyung to ask. The phone rang once before Dongmin picked up, no sound but shuffling for a moment. “Hello?”

“I have another SOS.” Sanha’s voice was shakier than he thought it would be, and if he wasn’t embarrassed before today sure was the day. “Minhyuk kissed me.”

***

“Jesus _Christ_ , Sanha! You kissed in a damn forest on an offbeat trail…are you sure this isn’t a kdrama?”

“Shut up! I didn’t want to be kissed. I was yelling at him…” Not that he exactly minded where it went after that. All he remembered was not talking the entirety of the way back, and touching his lips just in case this was a trick and Minhyuk left poison on him – like Romeo and Juliet or something. There had to be a catch to this, it was just too sudden for him to like him. Sanha seemed to forget that they were soulmates.

“So what are you going to do now?” Sanha wished he could run off to the countryside and live as a farmhand, but he knew that even hinting at running away from this would earn a lecture from Dongmin.

Sanha just pouted, tracing ‘stupid’ on his arm and shrugging. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll punch him in the face, since I didn’t give him permission.”

“Yah,” Dongmin reached over to hit his hand. “You have to talk to him, it’s better to have this resolved during summer. It’ll be too awkward during school.”

Dongmin was right (God, he hated that lately), and he had a feeling that it was going to be just as awkward whether it was during school or the summer. Besides, no one prepared you for actually _not_ liking your soulmate – it was just supposed to be an automatic click where nothing but happiness came from. It might be a sour thing to say, but Sanha wished more people had his misfortune so he could have some tips.

His best friend’s tips were horrible. They all entailed doing dumb cliché things like going to the beach – surely inspired by that show he started watching – or even going to see the fireworks that night. There was no way in hell that Sanha was going to have some dumb moment where he just spills his heart under the moonlight. Even if he did like him, he wasn’t that kind of guy. But, of course, Dongmin insisted that he at least go so that he wouldn’t be alone with Bin – an excuse, Sanha knew, considering he had gone out on dates many times before. Sanha agreed nonetheless, knowing that he didn’t really have much of a choice.

Dongmin spent the rest of the afternoon helping him pick out an outfit, which was pretty unnecessary, but he insisted that for such an important moment he would want to be remembered as looking good. Sanha was pretty sure that was a jab at how he was dressed currently.

“Jeans? I guess. Don’t you have nicer ones, though? These look like they’re ripping.” Dongmin frowned at the state of his jeans. “If not, you can wear dress pants.”

“There is _no way_ I’m wearing dress pants.” Sanha took out a nice sweater Dongmin had gifted to him for his birthday last year, something he kept tucked away in case he’d actually need it. The irony of it being used on a forced date wasn’t unnoticed. “It’ll look fine with this. It’s dark anyway, right?”

Dongmin hesitated but gave in, telling him to change so he could style his hair. Sanha swore that this was the last time he was putting in this much effort for a dumb boy named Minhyuk (he’d like to push off the eventual marriage for a later date, much later).

***

“I swear I’m dating a God.” Dongmin did a little spin, a giggle slipping at Bin’s compliment. Sanha tried his hardest not to roll his eyes, especially since Dongmin was just wearing casual clothes, for heaven’s sake. “Sanha! You clean up nicely too. Minhyuk might die after seeing you.”

If dressing well meant that Minhyuk could die, Sanha would rent a tuxedo right now. He just squirmed in his spot, mumbling a thank you and looking around. He wanted Minhyuk to get there quickly so he could get this confrontation over with and hibernate for the rest of the summer. However, he had gotten delayed and was already an hour late, causing Sanha to be alone with the sappy couple. It was already seven in the evening, and the sky was darkened significantly, food stands and little games the primary source of light.

Nothing beat tteokbokki on a summer night, even if the sweet and spicy scent reminded him of the awkward half-date they had not too long ago. The number of things that reminded him of Minhyuk was concerning, he could have sworn he saw double when that little boy was playfully jumping around his mom. There wasn’t anything more to that, of course, Minhyuk was just a dumb little kid – even if he was older.

At least, he was until he decided to show up, dressed in that stupid nice outfit. It was jeans like him, and a sweater, but it was a _v-neck_ sweater that looked incredible on him and Sanha hadn’t seen him look that good before. Sanha frowned when he wasn’t sidetracked by Dongmin and Bin, but instead walked up to him directly. “Hey.”

Hey? After kissing him in the middle of a forest, he gave a _hey_? Sanha huffed, taking a bite out of his rice cake and ignoring him. This wasn’t the path to resolution, but he couldn’t help being infuriated by literally everything he did. It was like how Bin was charmed by whatever Dongmin said, only the opposite. “Hi.”

“You’ve been avoiding me.” Minhyuk smiled and turned his attention to the vendor, ordering the same as Sanha. “Was it because I kissed you?”

Sanha nearly choked on the bite he took, violently shaking his head. “No, God, no. I just don’t like your face. It gives me a headache.” Minhyuk pursed his lips at his reply.

“Right.” He took a bite out of his own food, the conversation – if you could call it that – dying out quickly. Instead, Minhyuk looked at the other couple who were caught up in one of those shooting games, then looked back at Sanha.

“Don’t you dare.” Sanha glowered. “I don’t want some cheap stuffed animal.”

The rest of the night was similar, Sanha bickering with Minhyuk to avoid the inevitable confrontation, and Minhyuk flirting with no avail. Sanha was slowly warming up, but he still denied it when Dongmin would whisper the question. He was reminded that he had to talk to him properly before the day ended, but Sanha just nodded and ignored his task. Minhyuk didn’t deserve an apology, anyway.

The night continued, announcements for the fireworks starting soon starting to make Sanha nervous. Bin and Dongmin had left the group for a little, going to get a good spot to watch from, leaving Minhyuk and Sanha to stand in the square center together. Any time Minhyuk suggested something they could do, Sanha shot it down quickly. He could tell Minhyuk was getting frustrated, but he really just wanted to go home.

Finally, he got fed up. “Sanha, let’s get something else to eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Jesus, Sanha!” Minhyuk ran a hand through his hair and glared at the younger. “You’re really annoying, you know that? Acting like a little kid when I’m trying here.”

Sanha ignored him, taking out his phone and opening a game. Minhyuk pressed out of it, shoving his hand down to force him to focus. Sanha blinked, surprised at the steely stare that Minhyuk was giving him. He wasn’t used to seeing him this mad, and it was making him uncomfortable. “You aren’t making it easy either.”

“Stop being so selfish.” There was a pause. Sanha frowned at how he had pinpointed it, and he didn’t know what to say to him. “Go sit by the fountain, I’m going to get us some food.”

Sanha listened despite what he felt, knowing that he had been called out and he had to listen by now. He caught on that he had to confront him once he had come back, and his mind was running at a million miles per hour. He really was being selfish, from the moment he met Minhyuk to now. Just because he wanted to be childish, he put aside what Minhyuk wanted for months. If they weren’t soulmates, Sanha was sure that Minhyuk would have left him ages ago. But that was the thing, they were stuck together.

A few moments passed before Minhyuk came back with the food, handing Sanha his and sitting down next to him. They ate quietly, awkwardly shifting their glances between their food and anywhere but each other. Minhyuk would open his mouth to say something, but close it again. Sanha was sure that he could tell how surprised Sanha was at Minhyuk calling him that. Finally, Minhyuk let out a sigh and placed a hand over Sanha’s free one. He jumped, looking over with a full mouth.

“I’m sorry, I was harsh.” Minhyuk moved his hand off of Sanha’s slowly. “I…really like you Sanha. I think you forget that too often.”

Sanha’s guilt made him bite his lip, this was really the moment that he was dreading. Just before he was going to reply with a ‘hey, wait, I actually like you back’, he caught sight of a spider crawling on Minhyuk’s sleeve. He shrieked, instinctively pushing Minhyuk away, and forgetting that he was sitting on the edge of a fountain. Minhyuk let out a yelp and fell backwards into the fountain, Sanha letting out a “ohmygodIamsosorry” and gasping.

Of course, right as this happened, he saw Dongmin and Bin walking over, giggling to each other and hand-in-hand. Sanha panicked, knowing that if Dongmin saw this he would get his head chewed off. Sanha reached in and pulled Minhyuk up by his shirt collar, planting a kiss on his lips and shutting his eyes tightly. His lips were a lot softer than he remembered (it was either the fountain water or he put on chapstick) and he didn’t feel fireworks, but he could feel a faint fluttering in his stomach.

Sanha realized, as his soulmate was soaking wet in a fountain, Sanha kissing him in the most awkward way, that there was absolutely nothing fairy-tail about their relationship, their love rough and clumsy. But, that was okay, because even if he was unskilled in this whole love thing, it sure was something he enjoyed.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so so much for all of the support i've gotten on this story! reading that this could possibly be a favorite socky fic was incredible to me, and watching it have over 100 kudos and 700 hits was really unbelievable. i'd push you all into fountains and kiss you on the cheeks if i could :') i love you all so much!!! <3  
> cry about it ending with me at [@starrybinu](https://starrybinu.tumblr.com) !!


	7. bonus

                “Cause you’re mine.”

                “That doesn’t mean you can just take my hoodie, Minhyuk!”

                “It most _definitely_ does, and I suggest you buy more of this brand because its most comfortable for me.” If they weren’t already late to school, Sanha would have stopped to throw his shoe at Minhyuk.

                It’s been a year since Minhyuk and Sanha had officially started dating (their first day being somewhat blocked from Sanha’s memory after how embarrassing it was), and school had started just shortly afterwards. Sanha was going into his junior year and Minhyuk into his senior, and Sanha was jealous that he was almost done. Jinwoo and Myungjun had long gone the high school and moved on to a local college, and Dongmin was freshly graduated. This left just Sanha and his soulmate to take on the rest of high school alone. And next year, Sanha was completely solo. He was lucky he had made some other friends within his class.

                He had to admit that he was a little intimidated by that, but he decided to focus on that this was his last year with Minhyuk – at school anyway. He supposed soulmates did have perks in knowing that they’d end up together forever. Even if right now he’d rather not have to think about how long he’d deal with his antics.

                “Let’s hold hands, sweetie.” Minhyuk held out his hand and grinned at Sanha, already knowing what his answer was going to be. As he started to protest, he took the hand quickly and swung it, Sanha’s protests growing as they walked into the school gates.

***

                “Why does he always feel the need to steal my clothes?” Sanha kicked a pebble as he sat on the roof, waiting for Minhyuk to come back with their lunch. He was on the phone with Dongmin, something that Dongmin had him promise to do the second he could. He was his second mom, or at least he seemed to think so.

                “Cause he loves you. How are you guys doing?”

                “We’re fine, I guess.”

                “Have you guys gone on a date yet?” Dongmin paused, a muffled noise coming from the phone and then a giggle. “Binnie says hi.”

                “Hi, Bin. And no, we haven’t.” He heard Dongmin gasp, and his phone started ringing with a FaceTime call. Sanha sighed, accepting it and sitting on the bench behind him. “What?”

                “ _You haven’t been on a date?_ ” Dongmin was yelling, and Sanha muted him with a frown.

                “Just cause you and Bin can’t spend a minute without each other doesn’t mean Minhyuk and I are the same way. Besides, this summer I was working and he was studying for his exams.” If he was honest, he was a bit disappointed that it had been a year since they started officially dating and they hadn’t gone somewhere just one-on-one, unless hanging out in each other’s rooms counted for anything. He pouted at Dongmin, his mouth still running despite him being muted. “I’m hanging up now.”

                It would be lying to say that never having been on a date with Minhyuk didn’t bother him now. He gripped his backpack straps so tightly the whole walk home. The more he thought about it, the dumber it was. _He_ shouldn’t be the one who worried about this, Minhyuk was older than him. That meant that they should have gone on a date already, and Minhyuk should have picked him up in a suit, and they should have gone to a fancy restaurant that overlooked the Han River and – well, then again, that didn’t really suit him or Minhyuk, did it? They had their humble beginnings that included falling into fountains and getting lost on mountains. Neither, Sanha noted in his head, would he forgive Minhyuk for (even if both were technically his fault).

                Minhyuk seemed to sense Sanha’s tenseness and leaned in closer while they walked together. It was a routine now, for Minhyuk to walk Sanha home. Then he would catch the bus and they’d stay on the phone until they fell asleep. He might sound like a brat, and he didn’t mean it like that, but he was quite bored of this routine. He appreciated the company and he loved Minhyuk and all, but it was _boring_.

                When he played it back in his head, he was a bit of a brat.

                “Sannie~” Minhyuk bumped shoulders with him. “What’s on your mind, my cutie?” He said the last part in English, and Sanha rolled his eyes.

                “Nothing. Don’t worry about me. You have a big exam coming up.”

                “You’re always more important than that.” Sanha turned to meet Minhyuk’s eyes and looked away quickly, his face lighting up in a blush. His pace quickened and he huffed loudly. “Sanha! Wait up!”

***

                Fine, his heart did flutter most of the time he was with Minhyuk, so maybe it wasn’t as boring as he made it out to be. Still, he wanted the romantic one-on-one that Dongmin always got with his soulmate. Maybe not as often, he wasn’t interested in being suffocated either. Even just one date a month would satisfy him. He looked over at his phone laying on his desk, the numbers counting up on Minhyuk’s call. His caller ID was “My Love Minhyukkie”, along with five heart emojis. He didn’t put that in of course, it was Minhyuk who did, and he just had to kiss his phone after too.

                “Do you still have my hoodie?”

                “Mm.” Minhyuk was half-asleep now, and Sanha could tell by the shuffling that he was in bed. Lucky him, Sanha still had English to study. “It’s really warm. Let’s get matching hoodies.”

                “Go to sleep.” He said it harsher in his head, but it came out very soft and he heard Minhyuk giggle on the other side. God, he was so difficult. How was he supposed to keep studying if he was so distracting? Sanha turned his attention back to his homework before he heard Minhyuk clear his throat.

“I love you, Yoon Sanha, one day to be Park Sanha.” And with that, the line cut and the call ended. His heart was beating at a million miles per hour now, he could actually _hear_ it, and he let out a muffled scream into his pillow.

There was no way he could focus anymore now, and he tiptoed downstairs to get a glass of water. It was late now, probably ten if he checked the clock, and he had to be careful not to wake up his brothers or his parents. Luckily for him, his mom was already awake and sitting at the kitchen table. She smiled when he sat down and got up to get him a drink. Maybe his mom could make sense of this no date thing, because clearly Dongmin didn’t have any constructive criticisms.

“Hey, Mom, I was wondering…” Sanha took a sip of his water and pouted. “Is it weird that Minhyuk and I haven’t been on a date?”

“Hmm, well.” His mom thought for a moment. “For me and your dad, we had a lot of dates after meeting each other. Since we were just seeing each other for the first time, we wanted to know everything about one another. But, I do know some of my friends and even my older sister didn’t go on dates with their soulmates for years, sometimes never.”

Sanha frowned into his cup. He hoped his luck wasn’t as unfortunate. He wanted at least one date, just something he could cherish if he never was able to go on one again.

“However, I think that you and Minhyuk are a special case. You knew each other before knowing you were soulmates to each other. Plus, you have had time alone with each other even if you didn’t consider it a date per say.” His mom smiled and ruffled his hair. “Sometimes you don’t need to go to a café to have a strong relationship, son. If it’s important to you, then talk to him about it!”

His mom was right, as usual, and he knew that if he didn’t express how annoyed he was with never going on a date then there was no way for Minhyuk to know. After all, they were connected by writing on the arm not mind reading. Fine, he decided, the next day he’d talk to Minhyuk about it, and that would be that. If he wanted to go on a date then good, and if not then so be it.

But the next day proved he couldn’t, because Minhyuk was chattering about having to study with someone for his exam. They were going to go to a café in Myeong-dong, and then they would go get some supplies for a project they had. Apparently the person was also in the dance team and they had to get some banners and costumes for their next performance. Sanha felt a little sad to hear that, maybe because it was so close to the date that he was craving. Before he knew it, there were tears falling out of his eyes and he was sobbing without control. Minhyuk stopped walking and gasped, coming over to wipe Sanha’s eyes and hold his face in his hands.

“What’s wrong, Sannie?”

“I-I-I… _I_ wanna go!” Sanha felt so dumb like this, but he couldn’t help it.

“Go where, baby? To get the supplies? To Myeong-dong? Do you wanna go shopping?”

“I wanna go on a date with you!” He took a few steps forwards to lean his face on Minhyuk’s shoulder, wrapping an arm around him and gripping the fabric on his shirt. Minhyuk held him close and rubbed his back soothingly.

“Shh…it’s okay. I didn’t know you wanted to, Sanha. You always seem so uninterested in stuff like that.” Minhyuk placed a kiss on his shoulder. “Let’s go right now, we’ll skip school and go have a day out together, alright?” Sanha nodded, leaning out of the hug and wiping his eyes. “Aww, look at my baby, your eyes are all puffy now.” Sanha laughed, hitting his chest before stepping out of the hug and taking Minhyuk’s hand. He knew that once he had calmed down he would get teased endlessly for this, but he decided to lean into Minhyuk’s shoulder and enjoy the moment for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! do you remember this fic?  
> i keep getting such endless support after it's finished, and since this is the 1st anniversary of it being done, i thought i'd update with a little bonus chapter for a year later~  
> getting back into this au took a bit of time but i hope that i could capture that sanha vs soulmate u all know and love :3c what kind of date do you think they went on?? i might wanna draw some of ur ideas!  
> hit me (up) @[chanight](http://chanight.tumblr.com)


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